 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
184.102.104.44
In Reply to: RE: UP FOR SALE: Bob Ludwig's Led Zeppelin II Test Pressing posted by John Marks on October 31, 2024 at 14:01:05
I have the both Mo-Fi original and original release, and I am not impressed with them sound wise - just ok. As producer, Jimmy Page ran the original tapes with too much modulation to try and get tape compression - it has a slight distortion, especially to the tippy top high end. Good music and lyrics though. Great effort!
Fool's gold
Follow Ups:
...a pre-Warner merger Atlantic with "LW" in the deadwax, a CD copy of the MoFI (ripped from the LP), and a Jimmy Page remaster and they all had the same problem.
And the problem was, it was still Led Zeppelin.
The blissful counterstroke-a considerable new message.
Edits: 11/02/24 11/02/24
...although I've done this already many times. French one is 40-0037, (SD-8236), France WE 841. Mo-Fi is MFSL-1-065
I am glad you agree. So RL minimized the distortion but it's still there.
It's certainly not the only Master Tape in the older days of mixdowns that has overload distortions, but this one in particular, (since someone here 'posted and mentioned' it) I feel it had to be called out. And it's notorious for the sound, take a look on the web sometime.
I'll play them all with my Talisman Sapphire MC AGAIN! and also my SAE 1000mc just for giggles
I'd rate them like this:
Ludwig and Classic in a dead heat.
MoFi.
AT/GP repressing post Warner/Atlantic merger (has the Warner logo at the bottom of the label).
Jimmy Page.
UK plum (which sounded dull).
"LW" US 1841 Broadway pressing which was pretty bad, IMO.
The only one I have left is the Jimmy Page pressing and I'll be selling it soon.
I just can't bring myself to listen to Led Zep anymore. After 50 years, enough. Never liked them that much in the first place.
The blissful counterstroke-a considerable new message.
My Jimmy Page LZII and LZIV remastered LPs are both in my outbox. I enjoy Jimmy Page remasters on the CDs with bonus tracks.
They've taken a lot of heat from audiophiles, and they don't have the slam of the expensive pressings or reissues, but they're still good copies to have.
I've just soured on a lot of the "music of my life," stuff I've been playing since high school. Planning a big purge in the near future.
The blissful counterstroke-a considerable new message.
I suppose they are good but they sound more like the Jimmy & Robert show than Led Zeppelin to me. I have the full JP remaster collection on CDs with the bonus tracks and that's more than enough JP remasters for me. I tried a couple of the remasters on vinyl and don't think they are worth taking up the shelf space which is always at a premium for me. Don't really like Jimmy Page (still buying Robert Plant records though) so maybe that has something to with it.
I've been purging records that no longer interest me since I started buying records.
I'm done with it. Been listening to it for too many years, it's ubiquitous, and I have no interest in playing any records from Bad Company, or the Who, or LZ, Allman Brothers, Buckingham-Nicks era Fleetwood Mac, etc.
I'll keep jazz, punk, country, records by current bands. Everything else must go.
The blissful counterstroke-a considerable new message.
It's just one of several different era's of pop/rock music represented in my collection. I like punk, country and alt-country, folk, alternative and indie rock/pop, blues, rock, pop, r&b, funk soul and have small collections of jazz and reggae records. Spanning from the 50s thru the 2020s. And I'm sure there is plenty I've missed and will never discover.
Sure I get tired of hearing from folks who seem to think 70s mainstream was a pinnacle of something and all else pretty much sucks. But there is some music in there that I like and still enjoy spinning.
The story goes that the producer asked Bob Ludwig to cut LZII as Hot as possible. So, Bob did that. As a Sanity Check, he took a record (my guess is that it was a playable acetate) to the home of a well-off audiophile with a nice turntable setup, and it played fine.
Which was in some sense a mistake, because there are a lot more cheap turntables that nice turntables.
While the true original cut LPs were in the distribution pipeline before the actual Record Release Day, the teenaged daughter of the label head told her father that the bass notes toward the end of one side made the needle in her cheap stereo skip (it was probably and "Open and Play" "Suitcase" record player of the early 1960s).
The head of the label freaked out, and he did not bother to ask Bob Ludwig what was going on. He ordered his in-house engineers to cut new lacquers from a reference Norelco analog tape cassette, and further, to cut the bass and squash the dynamics.
He also ordered that all existing "RL" records be trashed.
So, the $64 question is, in the dead wax of your old LP, does it have Robert Ludwig's initials scratched there?
I doubt it. RL/SS "Suppressed Pressings" are very rare. Within the past year, a mint one sold on eBay for more than $3,000.
Furthermore, we, rightly or wrongly, live in a world where people bid up the value of a used baseball player game jersey to TWELVE MILLION DOLLARS. Strangely enough, the same auction firm that sold George Herman "Babe" Ruth's famous Pointed-Out Home Run Jersey for $12 million... is also selling Bob Ludwig's personal test pressing, which, by definition, is a totally unique and easily authenticated collectable.
When I was a disc jockey (at a semi-legal flea-powered prep-school-campus AM radio station), "Whole Lotta Love" got lots of play. Had I stolen that 45rpm promo (which in retrospect, had to have been squashed even worse than the LZII "Replacement" LP mastering), oh, it might be worth $64 today.
So, please let us know what your old LP's Dead Wax Area says.
john
(Friend of Bob Ludwig since 1991.)
I figure my stereo isn't good enough to render this fantastic rock record as "ok". Maybe one day I'll make an opportunity to compare the Monarch to the Pitman.
I bought one this year, or last, for $350 in vg/vg condition. I knew and trusted the seller who play graded it vg++. Arrived in visual condition as specified but played vg++ which is better than most nm records I get on eBay. Almost like a dream come true - this thing absolutely blew me away.
john
he claimed in a recent YT interview that the reason the RL cut is so favored is due to the EQ Ludwig used and not the level. Hoffman stated that the original LZ mastertapes sound a bit lifeless and benefit from some EQ goosing. He said you can get get the same effect by playing an original LZII CD (flat transfer of the master) and a graphic equalizer.
Surely the tracking weight of those suitcase players was pretty substantial?
What I've found is that many 70's rock hits are inherently bass thin. And I have some of the latest 192/24 remixes including this title.
Can't say what monitor was used originally, but many in that day used the JBL 4310/4311 series. With its decided midbass and upper midrange peaks. Maybe fine when played back using speakers with similar frequency deviations.
Truly neutral speakers, however, will naturally be shy in those areas that were previously exaggerated in the monitor.
I apologize, my reply did NOT get posted for whatever reason, most likely I hit the wrong key. I was also lengthy.
I have recording credits and considerable experience at this, but they are no big deal. My audible thoughts on this is to NOT complain about Grundman, Ludwig, or anybody else except, MAYBE, Page. I have to admit not knowing the intricacies in detail on the recording sessions themself. Only the end product.
I have 1 Ludwig, and one Mo-Fi of the II's that I have. I am no neophyte to this and do not appreciate your 'corrections'. Your knowledge and experience however, is much! appreciated. Have a nice day
Let me start by saying that I am surprised that you have a genuine "Suppressed" RL pressing.
LZII a record I remember; but it did not strike a huge emotional resonance with me. So, I have never made a deep dive as to different iterations of it.
The comments on Discogs about the "RL" pressing are 180 degrees opposite from what you say, but that is why the Romans said "De Gustibus."
View YouTube Video
john
Led Zepplin II might have poorly recorded but I loved my original LP back in the '60s and love it still.
I dream of an America where a chicken can cross the road without having it's motives questioned.
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
